Chapter 6

After saying goodbye to the Bridgerts, Helen turned and walked into the mirror. She remembered a fairytale from her childhood where a little girl traveled into a mirror. Helen laughed at the memory and wondered what she might find on her own adventure. She didn't have long to wait as it seemed she immediately found herself in an astounding room; everywhere she looked there was something interesting and new to see

The whole room seemed to dance with firelight from the torches held in sconces all around the room's perimeter. Romanesque couches dotted an open area in front of what could only be described as a throne. At the base of the throne sat an enormously large wolf. Helen found she didn't feel threatened by the presence of the powerful animal and when she looked closely she couldn't help but notice the intelligence in his eyes. Somehow, not quite certain that she wouldn't be making a fool of herself, Helen felt she should speak to the creature.

"Hello, my name is Helen. The Wizard asked me to come. Is he anywhere nearby?" She asked in as calm of a voice as she could manage.

She didn't know what would happen next but imagined that it might be something like in the Lassie movies where the dog leads you to its master; but that's not exactly what happened.

"It's nice to meet you Helen. My name is Fang. The Wizard asked me to greet you on his behalf and lead you to his home; but first, there are some things I am to tell you. Please, have a seat," the wolf told her.

"Are you comfortable Helen?"

"Yes. If you're ready, please continue Fang. It's quite fascinating to speak with you and I'm ready to listen."

"Alright then, the Wizard's family is very open in their attitudes about love and sexuality. Often, in fact the majority of the time, they remain unclothed while on the Wizard's estate or here in his palace.

Secondly, the Wizard has many concubines as well as others who serve him. The majority of these individuals have pledged their service of their own free will without any coercion from the Wizard or anyone else. I remember when the first women pledged their service to him he was quite uncomfortable with the whole thing; but when he realized that these women were sincere in their desires and found fulfillment and purpose in their lives by giving their service, he decided to accept that service in the spirit in which it was given.

Concerning yourself, you are an honored guest in the Wizard's home. As such you will be treated with kindness, friendship, and honesty. You need not concern yourself in any way with unusual customs, forms or manners for addressing the Wizard and his family, or any other such trappings of state that may have seemed necessary in the past. As the Wizard's friend your presence is both welcome and desired and he wants you to feel at home during your stay with us.

Do you have any pressing questions for me right now Helen, or shall I give you a tour of the palace area now?"

"Oh! I do have a few questions; but the fact is I think I could wait since some of them are about this beautiful place we are in. Will you really give me a tour Fang? I'd really like that."

"Certainly fair lady. May I offer you some refreshments before we start? Are you a bit thirsty or hungry?"

Helen did feel a bit thirsty and she told the wolf so. Almost at once, though the wolf had not spoken a word or issued any other sort of verbal command, two stunning women in harem costumes entered the room. One bore a tray containing various forms of liquid refreshment while the other carried a tray with a small assortment cheeses and crackers. Helen selected a drink from the tray and one of the crackers with cheese as well.

"That was very good. Thank you Fang and both of you as well," Helen said.

"Well, let's start on that tour I promised you Helen. After that we'll go through the mirror to the Wizard's estate and visit with his family."

"Alright Fang, that sounds like fun. Lead the way Sir Wolf!" she said with a laugh in her voice and a smile on her face.

Somehow, after drinking that delicious fruity beverage the harem girl had given her, Helen found that she didn't feel as weak as she had earlier. In fact she felt full of energy and was very excited to be exploring and doing new things!

After Dale had visited with Jim Bridgert, he'd given his instructions to Fang and went home to be with his family and help them get ready for Helen's visit. It wasn't that there was that much that had to be done, it was more that he needed to let them know to treat her as more of a friend than the First Lady.

"What shall I wear?" appeared to be the most common question and Dale's answer of "Just exactly what you have on" didn't seem to sit well.

Finally after answering the flurry of questions they'd asked him, his lovely mates informed him that he was just no help in the matter at all and quit asking him. This suited Dale just fine and he busied himself with one of his favorite pastimes - playing with his little ones and trying to get them to smile and laugh. Sooner than he expected Dale found that his mates were dressed and waiting for their guest to arrive.

"Is this dress okay?"

"Should I wear the pearls or the diamonds?"

"Can I get away with flats or do I need heels?"

Dale responded with a question of his own. "My lovelies our guest has been trapped in a tree for three days, she recently learned that her husband has died, she was rescued by a lovely family composed of eight women and one man, and she's just meeting Fang and some of the slave women at the Palace right this very moment. With all of these changes and surprising things to contemplate do you really think she'll notice every detail of what you are or aren't wearing?"

Over the next few days there was a great deal of activity for Dale both on a family level and with the responsibilities he felt he must bear to safeguard the quality of human life on the planet. He tried to split his time equally between personal time with his family and their new guests and time spent working on his many other issues.

Helen was getting along quite well with all of the members of the Wizard's household and dealing well with all of the new things she was experiencing. She got the greatest joy out of being with the little ones who were the center of love and attention in the Wizard's family and was truly learning to appreciate their mothers as well. Dale was heartened to see her facing life with enthusiasm each day in spite of having lost Matthew.

Dale's meeting with Jim Bridgert had turned out quite positive and he determined to meet with as many of the Beta Males as soon as was physically possible. Vyagar told him that out of the one hundred and twenty thousand potent men left on the planet there were now four hundred Beta Males and twenty thousand Gamma Males. The Beta Males each had a small tracking crystal planted in their skulls that was smaller than a grain of sand. Vyagar could locate each and every one of them and began to do so at Dale's request.

To each of these men, Dale sent a human OAI to contact them and invite them to an important meeting with the Wizard Manix. Dale had actually scheduled eight different sessions over a four day period and with this flexibility most all of the Betas accepted his invitation. He would have to meet and deal with the eleven that didn't at some point in the future.

To say Kanji was startled when the beautiful woman stepped out of the shimmering blue cylinder of light that had formed within his bedroom would be an understatement. It was totally unexpected and quite unfathomable and yet, after all of the other strange events that had befallen Kanji, he took it in stride. He'd already had to get used to the incredible amount of respect now shown to him by other men as well as the sudden change in behavior that women seemed to have towards him. In fact it seemed that all of Tokyo suddenly viewed him as an important individual.

"Mr. Okada, I apologize for my intrusion in your home. I was sent to you by the Wizard Manix. May I speak with you about a matter of some importance?"

Thinking that her timing couldn't have been better, since the four women in his bed had just headed to the kitchen to prepare his breakfast, Kanji answered "Yes. I'm listening."

Alexey Malakhov couldn't have been more pleased when the Wizard's messenger approached him. He'd been trying to organize a working society out of the literally thousands of people who seemed to suddenly be looking up to the former businessman. "Count me in."

All around the globe the scene repeated itself as the Wizard's servants worked to bring the Beta Males into contact with the one who had gifted them with their new status. Anayo Udoitah of Nigeria, Andrew McPhee of Australia, John Ross of England, Peter Schmidt of Austria, and the list went on. At the request of the Wizard, Jim Bridgert also attended the meetings along with Rob, Jason, John, Emilio, and Enrique.

Soon all that had accepted were preparing to answer the Wizard's call. When the time appointed for their meeting arrived, each Beta Male was waiting by themselves as they had been instructed to do. The shimmering blue light surrounded them and they found themselves standing in a large throne room with a group of other men.

"Gentlemen, welcome! I am the Wizard Manix. Thank you for accepting my invitation to come together and talk of the situation the plague has placed us in and what we can do about it."

Dale told them the same things he had told Jim, Rob, Jason, Emilio, and Enrique; giving them a great deal of information they hadn't been aware of before and outlining his reasons for choosing to become involved with earth at this point in time. Both Rob and Jim answered several questions that came up with observations of their own.

As each man agreed that it was in their best interest to work with the Wizard as his ally in this important cause, the Wizard thanked them for their service and gifted them with the same gifts he had previously provided to Jim, Rob, Jason, John, Emilio, and Enrique. Each of these men was very pleased and thankful for the gifts Manix provided and agreed to accept the service of the Wizard's OAIs.

During the meetings the many body slaves and concubines now in the service of the Wizard served refreshments to his guests and provided entertainment for the men when the Wizard requested them to do so. Finding that the power would stay on and the threat of nuclear radiation, whether by intent or accident, would now be eliminated was a great relief. The news that they had a place to turn when medical assistance was necessary was also very good to hear.

Dale stressed that their best chance for survival lay in mutual cooperation and assistance with each other. "While I have additional resources at my disposal, I to have bettered my chances of survival along with that of my families by sharing these resources with you," Dale told the other men present.

"Begin to use the resources I have shared with you to the best of your ability. I plan on making additional tools available to you as well in the near future that will aid us in building a new society with an improved standard of living as well as helping us to defend against any enemy incursion.

Stay in touch with one another using your communications crystals. It may be that we can establish some meaningful trade between our groups as a way of fairly distributing necessary goods and supplies where they are most needed. I also suspect that this will allow us to share news amongst our entire population more effectively than ever before which may be a key to our survival. Finally, if you need me, I'm just a thought away," the Wizard concluded with a smile.

The men were allowed to mingle with one another as long as they might like before they returned to their various domains. Each had an accompanying group of the Wizard's servants in their various animal forms to assist them in learning the use of their new gifts so they used the time to become better acquainted with each other as the Wizard had suggested.

It was during one of the first of these post meeting mingling sessions that Rob Matthews and Jim Bridgert began to get to know each other. The two found that they had much in common and vowed to stay in touch with each other. At another meeting they ran into another man very much like themselves. Mike Telford was a former Army Ranger with a sharp mind, a finely honed physique, and an unusually tragic past which he had worked to make the best of in most admirable fashion. Although at that time no one understood the significance this trio of warriors would play in upcoming events, their meeting was a most important and fortunate occurrence.

Tina loved watching Dale play with the children. In her loving and open way she accepted each of the eight little wonders as if they were her own as did her co-wives. The plague had brought great sorrow to many and she felt for their pain; but her life was full of joy and the hope for the future she had found in the lives of the children and her wonderful wizard husband.

What other children had a father who would just forget about work, his "importance", and all sense of propriety and just get down on the floor and play and play and play? Why just now she'd seen him toss one of the little bundles of joy in the direction of a large Bengal Tiger which rolled onto its back and caught the precious little one on its velvetted front paws and was now snuggling the child to its soft and furry chest. In any other time or place the very thought of her child being in the mere presence of a tiger would be terrifying; but not when the tiger was a servant and friend to her Wizard husband.

As the children were growing up around talking animals, flying dragons, and other such things that Tina had grown up with as fairytales, she imagined that their lives would be exciting indeed and looked forward to watching them grow up happy and strong. She looked over to where Angelina and Louisa were rocking two of the little ones to sleep and talking softly to one another. The happy smiles on their faces mirrored the one on hers.

As little Ezra popped her nipple into his mouth with apparent satisfaction and reached out to her milk filled orb with both of his baby hands, she looked down at his sweet and smiling face and watched as his eyes slowly closed. When Tina looked up again, she saw Helen looking at her with a tranquil smile of her own.

"A content and nursing child has to be one of the most beautiful things there is," Helen thought to herself.

It was true that the Wizard had mentioned some additional gifts he planned on gifting each of the Beta Males with; but Jim never would have anticipated the unusual marvel he found waiting for him on his return from the most recent meeting. Instead of walking through the mirror and finding himself in one of the locations he had added to his section of the mirror network, Jim found himself stepping out onto an enormous flat plane. The surface he was standing on felt was firm and stable; but not as hard as he expected it to be. As he walked on it Jim began to think of it as rubber coated metal or concrete; but the colors weren't quite right for that. He walked about a hundred feet and looked over the short wall and saw that he was on some sort of floating platform high up in the sky with the ground far below. Turning back to the mirror he had arrived through he saw that one of the Wizard's servants was waiting to greet him.